Image blocking teleconferencing eye contact terminal

Abstract

The present invention enables eye contact between conferees during a teleconference using a terminal equipped with a beamsplitter for reflecting an image of a video display so that only the reflection and not a direct view of the display is seen by the conferee. The camera is positioned behind the viewing side of the beamsplitter to capture the conferee's image through the beamsplitter. The direct view of the display is blocked by an image blocking film applied between the beamsplitter and the display. Blocking the direct view of the video display greatly improves teleconferencing by eliminating the distraction of simultaneously viewing both the video display and the reflection of the display.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A kit for use with an image display to provide an improved eye contact teleconferencing terminal for allowing a first conferee to maintain eye contact with an image of a second conferee imaged by the image display, the kit comprising: a semireflective transparent panel and means for positioning the semireflective transparent panel to form an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees with the image display thereby defining a first surface of the semireflective transparent panel which faces the image display and a second surface of the semireflective transparent panel which faces away from the image display;   a video camera and mounting means for holding the video camera disposed on a side of the semitransparent panel opposite the image display to capture an image of the first conferee through the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel; and   a layer of image blocking film disposed between a front surface of the image display and the semireflective transparent panel allowing the image of the second conferee to pass through and reflect from the semireflective panel while blocking a direct view of the image display from the first conferee.   
     
     
       2. The kit of claim 1, wherein the side of the semireflective transparent panel opposite the image display is enclosed in opaque material to improve a quality of the reflection on the semireflective transparent panel by shielding the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel from ambient light. 
     
     
       3. The kit of claim 1, wherein image blocking film is applied to the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel to improve a quality of the reflection on the semireflective transparent panel by shielding the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel from ambient light. 
     
     
       4. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 1, wherein the semireflective transparent panel is bowed to optically expand a compressed image on the image display, thereby elongating the reflection on the semireflective transparent panel. 
     
     
       5. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 1 further comprising a means for reproducing sound disposed in proximity to the image display with a direction of sound propagation directed towards the semireflective transparent panel for reflecting sound from said panel so that the first conferee perceives the sound as issuing from the image reflected by the semireflective transparent panel. 
     
     
       6. An improved eye contact teleconferencing terminal for allowing a first conferee to maintain eye contact with a second conferee imaged by the teleconferencing terminal, the teleconferencing terminal comprising: a substantially planar image display for producing an image of the second conferee;   a semireflective transparent panel forming an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees with the image display thereby defining a first surface of the semireflective transparent panel which faces the image display and a second surface of the semireflective transparent panel which faces away from the image display;   a video camera disposed on a side of the semireflective transparent panel opposite the image display, the video camera capturing an image of the first conferee through the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel an image of the first conferee who is disposed on the image display-side of; and   a layer of image blocking film disposed between a front surface of the image display and the semireflective transparent panel allowing the image of the second conferee to pass through and reflect from the semireflective panel while blocking a direct view of the image display from the first conferee.   
     
     
       7. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 4, wherein the side of the semireflective transparent panel opposite the image display is enclosed in opaque material to improve a quality of the reflection on the semireflective transparent panel by shielding the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel from ambient light. 
     
     
       8. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 6, wherein image blocking film is applied to the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel to improve a quality of the reflection on the semireflective transparent panel by shielding the second surface of the semireflective transparent panel from ambient light. 
     
     
       9. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 6, wherein the semireflective transparent panel is bowed to optically expand a compressed image on the image display, thereby elongating the reflection of the image display. 
     
     
       10. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 6 further comprising a means for reproducing sound disposed in proximity to the image display with a direction of sound propagation directed towards the semireflective transparent panel for reflecting sound from said panel so that the first conferee perceives the sound as issuing directly from the image reflected by the semireflective transparent panel. 
     
     
       11. An improved eye contact teleconferencing terminal for allowing a first conferee to maintain eye contact with a second conferee imaged by the teleconferencing terminal, the teleconferencing terminal comprising: a substantially planar image display;   a semireflective transparent panel forming an angle of between about 30 and 60 degrees with the image display;   a video camera disposed opposite the image display on a first side of the semireflective transparent panel, the video camera capturing, through the semireflective transparent panel, an image of the first conferee who is disposed on a second side of the semireflective transparent panel; and   an image blocking layer comprised of micro-louvers disposed between a front surface of the image display and the semireflective transparent panel allowing the image of the second conferee to pass through and reflect from the semireflective panel while blocking a direct view of the image display from the first conferee.   
     
     
       12. The teleconferencing terminal of claim 11, wherein means are provided for altering an angular relationship between the semireflective transparent panel and the image display.